Marty is the ideal fifth grader. He gets good grades, listens to his teachers, and doesn't start trouble in class. But a darkness is beginning to fall over Marty's life. The kids at school won't stop picking on him, his parents just don't seem to understand him, and now Marty must grapple with a terrible secret that threatens to destroy life as he knows it...

SYNOPSIS: Marty is the ideal fifth grader. He gets good grades, listens to his teachers, and doesn't start trouble in class. But a darkness is beginning to fall over Marty's life. The kids at school won't stop picking on him, his parents just don't seem to understand him, and now Marty must grapple with a terrible secret that threatens to destroy life as he knows it -- his big brother is a serial killer! Brotherly love is put to the ultimate test in this emotional coming-of-age story that descends into unspeakable horror.

Found is a dark labor of love written by Kentucky author Todd Rigney, shot by an all-Hoosier cast and crew on a micro-budget of just $8,000. Featuring bold performances by young actors Gavin Brown and Ethan Philbeck, a killer animated title sequence by Indianapolis artist Lowell Isaac, and gut-wrenching gore by the Clockwerk Creature Company, Found has been called "as horror as horror can get" by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Found made its auspicious world premiere in September 2012, when the iconic Elvira and a panel of celebrity judges including Joe Bob Briggs, Bill Moseley, Sybil Danning, and Peaches Christ unanimously selected Found for best feature at Elvira's Horror Hunt, sponsored by HorrorHound Magazine and Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo. The film also won awards for best actor and best director.

As Found continues its tour on the festival circuit, it has become an official selection of numerous film festivals, including the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, L'Etrange Festival in Paris, Toronto After Dark, the Lausanne Underground Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Fear & Fantasy Film Festival. It has won numerous awards at The New York City Horror Film Festival, The Phoenix Film Festival, The Terror de Molins Film Festival in Barcelona, The Nevermore Film Festival in Durham, The New Orleans Horror Film Festival, The Eerie Horror Film Festival, A Night of Horror International Film Festival in Sydney, The Motor City Nightmares Film Festival, The Mad Monster Party Film Festival, and the Housecore Horror Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

SYNOPSIS

Marty is the ideal fifth grader. He gets good grades, listens to his teachers, and doesn't start trouble in class. But a darkness is beginning to fall over Marty's life. The kids at school won't stop picking on him, his parents just don't seem to understand him, and now Marty must grapple with a terrible secret that threatens to destroy life as he knows it -- his big brother is a serial killer! Brotherly love is put to the ultimate test in this emotional coming-of-age story that descends into unspeakable horror.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

After reading Todd Rigney's book for the first time, I never wanted anything so badly in my entire life. On a surface level, Found struck me as an unlikely mash-up of two of my favorite films — Ordinary People and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. But under that surface were a dozen or so delicious ambiguities and provocative themes that spoke to me very personally.

Chief among these, I think Found has a lot to say about bullying and the warping potency of shame in boys' lives. Todd perfectly captures a moment in the life of our young protagonist, Marty — and I think in many boys' lives — where he is forced to make a conscious decision to leave boyhood, to risk alienating his mother and family, just so he can compete and survive among his peers. Boys do this even if it means sacrificing core parts of their humanity. That's what happens when caring gets perceived as a feminine quality, a weakness. And in the depiction of Steve, the older brother, I think we see how dangerous that sacrifice can be. Steve is a projection of Marty further down the road, but he goes beyond violence for retaliation. He embodies an entirely other notion that I've rarely seen explored in media, one that only needs hinted at to shock and disturb — the sexual fetishism of violence.

Marty's conflict points to 'nurture'. Steve's suggests 'nature'. Which is more horrifying — that male violence is intrinsic, or that it's bred and condoned? Found gave me an opportunity to explore the thorny path many boys and young men take as their rite of passage. Todd crystallizes the turning point in Marty's life, and he shows us the worst case scenario in Steve's. The plight of these characters shapes Found into a coming-of-age story that descends into full-blown horror.

Something I can really sink my teeth into.

BIOGRAPHIES

SCOTT SCHIRMER - Director

Scott Schirmer studied film and sociology at Indiana University, where he received grants for film making and achievement in video art. He currently works as a commercial video producer and editor. His writing and directing credits include the short films Boy in the Making,Three Animals One Stuffed, House of Hope and Off the Beaten Path. In 2006, his supernatural drama The Day Joe Left became a top ten finalist in Triggerstreet's online short film festival. Found is his first feature film.

TODD RIGNEY – Author

Todd is a staff writer for WebProNews and contributing blogger for BeyondHollywood. In Addition to Found, Todd is also the author of the horror anthology, Twelve Stories Concerning Love and Death. At present, he enjoys terrible movies, weird 90's industrial music, and collecting dusty VHS tapes. He's 34, married, and very pale.

GAVIN BROWN as Marty

Gavin Brown is now fifteen and attends high school in Bloomington, Indiana. Since making his acting debut in Found, Gavin has been cast in The Impersonators and has attended acting class at GJC Talent. When he's not in school or acting, Gavin enjoys Lacrosse and making music – and hanging out with friends.

ETHAN PHILBECK as Steve

Ethan Philbeck has performed in many stage productions with the Cardinal Stage Company in Bloomington, Indiana,including The Grapes of Wrath, A Christmas Carol, My Fair Lady, Annie, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. He also donned the role of the Duck in Click Clack Moo and worked behind-the-scenes as a co-stage manager for The Lonesome West and assistant stage manager for A Year with Frog and Toad.

PHYLLIS MUNRO as Mom

Phyllis Munro has previously appeared in Contrition (2012),Lewis (2010), and Babbling Banshee (2008). Phyllis participates in Community Theater, both as an actor and a stage manager, and attends acting class at GJC Talent. She will next be seen in Zack Parker's Proxy.

LOUIE LAWLESS as Dad

Louie Lawless has appeared in several Midwest-based film productions, including Hermetica, Nothing to Declare, Don't See It Alone, My Bloody Wedding, Tow, Scorned, andF.L.O.S.T (F*ckload of Scotch Tape). Passionate about the collaborative nature of film, Louie also participates in Indianapolis' annual 48-Hour Film Project.

CAST

The October People presents

A Forbidden Films production

Gavin Brown

Ethan Philbeck

FOUND

Phyllis Munro

Louie Lawless

Alex Kogin

Andy Alphonse

Kitsie Duncan

Kate Braun

Eddie Jackson

Adrian Cox-Thurmond

Brigid Macaulay

With Angela Denton

And Shane Beasley as the 'Headless' Killer

Special makeup effects by The Clockwerk Creature Company

Featuring music by Aaron Marshall and Bing Satellites

Original music composed by Magician Johnson, Greg Wright, and Lito Velasco